Tim Grobaty: Auditorium crowded a lot into 43 years

THE HOUSE OF STARS: When the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium opened 80 years ago this week, it promised to serve all the entertainment and convention needs of the city well into the future - although we're pretty sure its builders had hoped for more than 43 years.

Though it was demolished in 1975, the Auditorium more than delivered on its promise. In its main room and halls it had hosted trade shows of almost every kind, from buttons to autos.

The Miss Universe beauty pageant was born in the auditorium in 1952 and brought international attention to the building and the city during the pageant's eight-year stay in Long Beach before it moved to Miami in 1960.

In the 1950s and early '60s it drew thousands of housewives to cooking schools that included bags of free grocery samples and demonstrations of the latest in home appliances.

Sports competitions were held there: The Wilson-Poly basketball game was played there when it was the biggest sporting event in town, next to the Wilson-Poly football game. Bill Tilden played there in his first pro tennis tour and the Harlem Globetrotters brought their tour there annually.

In terms of star power, it's difficult to know where to start. Wait. No, it isn't. You have to start on July 11, 1955, when Judy Garland performed her "Comeback Tour" following her success in "A Star Is Born." She, of course, was a brilliant enough star, but those lucky to be in attendance at her show at the Auditorium were blinded by her guests on stage. One after another, she called them up: Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, all of whom rode on a chartered bus from Hollywood down to Long Beach. Also on that bus and in attendance at the show were Ronald Reagan, Debbie Reynolds with husband Eddie Fisher, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Betty Grable and others.

Less than a year later, The King came.

In case you hadn't heard of Elvis Presley in the summer of 1956, the Long Beach Independent explained that he was a "youthful new singing sensation who has taken up where Johnny Ray left off. Hailed as the greatest current rhythm and blues singer, Presley just turned 21 and is a favorite of the bobby-sox set. His frantic shouting, acrobatic instrument playing and uninhibited country-style singing have earned him the title of `America's Only Atomic-Powered Singer."'

Liberace played one of his early recitals at the Auditorium, launching his first world tour in the hall in February 1947.

Bob Hope was practically the house comic during the war years (all the war years), when he would often perform free shows for servicemen and veterans, many of which were broadcast on the radio for the troops overseas.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis performed one of their first shows in 1951 in the auditorium.

In 1949, the local high schools began having all-night graduation dances at the Auditorium, and the dances featured nationally known artists including Kay Starr, Les Brown and Stan Kenton.

The hall was a mandatory stop on the campaign trail. Richard Nixon, Earl Warren, Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver all shared their political views there. An attendance record was set in August 1956 when 14,776 people at a Jehovah's Witness convention (a convention that still comes to Long Beach to meet in the Arena) listened to Roscoe Stone explain "Why Permanent Peace Will Come in Our Time."

More than a decade after Elvis opened the rock 'n' roll floodgates, the Auditorium hosted, especially in the late 1960s, up to its demolition in 1975 when it shared rock-concert business with the Long Beach Arena.

But, to discover just how versatile a space the Municipal Auditorium was, we've got to go all the way back to the second year of its existence: the days following the March 10, 1933 earthquake, when the Auditorium was converted into a shelter for those made homeless by the quake. Thousands of cots were brought in by the Navy and a soup kitchen was set up.

Further, it served as City Hall for a time following the quake, and City Council meetings were held in its glamorous rooms.

Seems the auditorium was strong enough to easily withstand the devastating quake. It was built to last a lot longer than it did.